The present work investigates the interplay between building stiffness and replacement soil thickness and permeability, when an underlying swelling clay layer is subjected to continuous moisture using 3D numerical analysis. Simulations are done using the commercial finite element software ABAQUS, and data of a reference clay (Regina Clay). The swelling of the clay is simulated as a result of water inundation, and not applied as assumed volume strains. An approximate method is used and validated in the analyses to represent dual constitutive variable data of the unsaturated clay in numerical analysis using single constitutive variable formulation available in the software. Results show the effects of replacement thickness and permeability. High permeability replacement is shown to transfer moistening uniformly to underlying clay while at the same time replacing effective clay thickness. Hence, high permeability is better at improving differential deformations; especially when the building is subjected to non-uniform inundation.

当前的工作使用 3D 数值分析研究了当下面的膨胀粘土层受到连续水分时，建筑刚度与置换土厚度和渗透率之间的相互作用。使用商业有限元软件 ABAQUS 和参考粘土 (Regina Clay) 的数据进行模拟。粘土的膨胀被模拟为水淹没的结果，而不是作为假定的体积应变应用。在分析中使用并验证了一种近似方法，以使用软件中可用的单本构变量公式表示数值分析中不饱和粘土的双本构变量数据。结果显示了置换厚度和渗透率的影响。高渗透率置换被证明可以将润湿均匀地转移到下面的粘土，同时置换有效的粘土厚度。因此，高渗透性更好地改善差异变形；特别是当建筑物受到不均匀的淹没时。